Olympia Watch

As the newly appointed chair of the House’s Agriculture and
Natural Resources Committee, Representative Brian Blake (D-19,
Aberdeen) will have significant control over bills dealing with the use
of state-owned
wetlands, forests, conservation areas, and

fish and wildlife.

His appointment to the committee is causing alarm among
environmental advocates. The local Sierra Club’s Cascade Chapter
gives Blake a C on environmental policy. For the past 10 years,
Blake has worked for Weyerhaeuser’s logging operations.

“Brian Blake, in the past, has not had environmental issues as a
priority and he has been hard to convince,” Clifford Traisman,
state lobbyist for Washington Conservation Voters, said
diplomatically.

Blake is replacing Brian Sullivan (D-21, Mukilteo) who’s leaving the
legislature for a spot on the Snohomish County Council.
Sullivan
rated an A+ from the Sierra Club.
BRIAN SLODYSKO

Council Watch

As City Council Members David Della and Peter Steinbrueck pack up
their offices—one was voted out, one retired—the rest of
council is busy setting up the new committee assignments.

The current tentative lineup puts Richard McIver in charge of
the housing committee—a consolation prize, as McIver was likely
next in line for the council president seat until he was arrested for
allegedly choking his wife earlier this year.

Tom Rasmussen is set to take over the parks committee,
hopefully injecting some much-needed competence, as outgoing Della
failed to pass important parks funding legislation or effectively deal
with the Seattle Center skatepark issue during his tenure.

Jan Drago will continue in her role as
the chair of the
Transportation Committee, while Sally Clark takes up the land-use

torch for Steinbrueck. Given how Clark has disappointingly tacked
to the mushy center on issues from nightlife to accountability, fans of
low-income housing and density should be nervous about the fact that
she’s replacing a rambunctious progressive like Steinbrueck.

Bruce Harrell and Tim Burgess, the new kids on the
block, will head up the City Light and public-safety committees,
respectively. Burgess, an ex-cop, will immediately have clout with the
cops—which is a plus, but his lack of commitment to formally
strengthening council oversight is troubling.

Jean Godden takes over the powerful budget chair. And
Richard Conlin will
take on utilities and likely the
council
president position.

The outgoing council president, Nick Licata, will look after
a veritable potpourri
of issues, including labor, arts, health,

libraries, and nightlife. NANCY DREW

Suicide Watch

The Fremont Neighborhood Council (FNC) has withdrawn its support for
a proposed suicide-prevention barrier along the Aurora Bridge because they’re concerned about the aesthetic effect a fence might have
on the neighborhood. In July, the FNC submitted a letter to Seattle
FRIENDS—a local suicide-prevention group—supporting the
push for a fence along the bridge, which has the second highest suicide
rate in the country, behind the Golden Gate Bridge. “One of the things
people keep saying is that it’s not
going to look good,” says
FRIENDS founder
Ryan Thurston. “Bike helmets don’t look good, but
they’re safe.”

However, on December 2, the FNC pulled its letter of support because
“consideration had not been given to [other] options to solve the
problem.” Suicides on the bridge have been a problem since it opened in
1932 and this week, Governor Christine Gregoire finally budgeted $1.4
million for a bridge barrier. Some neighborhood residents want the
state to cough up the cash to build a separate, more aesthetically
pleasing bridge, which the Washington State Department of
Transportation estimates could cost upward of $60 million dollars. If
Gregoire’s budget passes the legislature, a barrier should be completed

by 2010. JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE